Meet the old math, same as the new math January 22, 2016

The younger son is beginning adventures in algebra, and I had a hard decision to make. He’d been using computer-based programs to learn math, but Mike and I decided we didn’t want to go that route any longer. I had spent a lot of time looking into curriculum with the older son, so I already had a textbook available (Jacob’s Elementary Algebra), and it’s one that has received excellent reviews.

It’s also 37 years old. Apparently there’s a newer edition, but that’s not the one I bought.

I had one concern with using this book. A lot of the standards surrounding math curriculum have changed and become standardized. There are a lot of texts available that have been evaluated and measure up to those standards. I was worried that by going with an older book, I was going to shortchange the younger son in his education. (I think that’s something almost every homeschool parent worries about.) The problem with a lot of the modern curricula, though, is that I really don’t like it. While I think the sciences generally benefit from taking a problem-solving approach, I’m not so sure that’s the best way to do it with math. Sure, I think there are ways to teach it more effectively, especially in terms of using active learning strategies and hands-on learning. Reasoning is important, but so is process, and kids need to come out of the classroom very fluent in process and computation. I’m one of those old-fashioned types that thinks you’re better off giving your kids a multiplication table than a calculator.

I had issues with one curriculum that was being used locally, for instance, because it taught division as repeated subtraction without teaching long division. It also taught matrix math and repeated sums without teaching the standard multiplication schemes. For those who are familiar with all the controversy over curricula and math standards, I’m sure this is old hat.

I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find that this 37 year old book assumes that the student knows long division and standard multiplication. However, in the first chapter (which is review), it introduced both matrix multiplication and repeated division as alternative methods. Repeated division was done side by side with long division as a way to show how long division works. However, it was not suggested as a good way to do division but to augment student understanding of long division. Matrix multiplication was proffered as a bonus problem, but I made sure younger son understood how to do it. I found with the older son that he was less likely to stumble on multiplication problems if he used the matrix method but would have a hard time keeping things straight with the standard method. It’s a good tool to have in your toolbox, and I have even pulled it out when I had to do a fairly large problem by hand despite only having learned it about 10 years ago.

This left me feeling like this book was going to work just fine. In fact, I’m rather disappointed that I didn’t get to use this book in high school. (It was already out of print, sadly.) Apparently, though, Amazon reviewers, internet philosophers, and other homeschooling parents really do know what they’re talking about. Feynman may even have approved.